musings & tidbits (creative and otherwise)

No TWD, Just Dinner!

August 27, 2008

I am sorry to report that there will be no TWD posting from me this week. As much as I like to try new things, I was greatly disappointed by an ice cream pie I made last year from Cooking Light magazine and just haven’t repaired significantly enough from it yet. I was fully enticed by the scrumptious looking picture while visiting my grandma, spent a good part of my day gathering up the ingredients and waiting hours for it to set– only to realize that what I really really like is just a plain scoop of ice cream (Haagen-Daaz chocolate chocolate chip or Ben and Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk rate pretty high on my list for being fully satisfying with just one small scoop)– with hot fudge and whip cream if I feel fancy, but I usually don’t. Sooo….since this week’s pick was an ice cream cake type of dish I decided to pass. Instead I visited my favorite local ice cream shop today and had a couple scoops of theirs: strawberry, praline pecan, and mimi’s mud (their signature flavor with chocolate, fudge, mocha ice cream and nuts). But if you’d like to see what other’s came out like check out some of the links from TWD!

What I did make today is dinner. This is probably about to become more rare as my new semester begins tomorrow and I am out of the house 3 nights out of the week during our typical dinner time. But in an effort to make good use of some of our CSA and own garden goodies I made a Veggie Enchilada based on a recipe from the Fields of Greens cookbook by Annie Somerville.

While I was making this I got to thinking about Nigella and how she has a story for every recipe. Do I have a story for every recipe, but I just don’t realize it? As it turns out, I probably do. So much of our lives are making and eating food, sharing it with our families, dreaming about it, and sometimes just dealing with the leftovers or the dishes. As for this recipe, while I don’t have much of a story (besides the fact that my daughter deemed it too spicy even though we loaded her up with sour cream and I had cut the spice A LOT from the original recipe) I do have a memory of myself as a child when my mom would make her enchilada casserole.

That memory is completely embarrassing now as an adult with my own daughter, because everytime she would make enchiladas I would do nothing but complain! I think it was only the smell of them that I complained about because I always remember liking the taste, but who knows… I probably complained about the taste too. I do clearly remember that as soon as I smelled the sauce cooking I would start whining, pinching my nose and running out of the room. Ironically, I now love enchiladas. I just try to keep memories like this in mind when my daughter starts her whining, whimpering, or any other dramatics she inherited from me.

Veggie Enchilada Casserole

Adapted from Fields of Greens recipe for Enchiladas Rojas

Sauce:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1-2 cups diced yellow onion ( I think I used 1/2 a large walla walla from our CSA)

*2 notes on this ingredient— 1) they actually list 2 TBSPs puree but with our low spice threshhold I knew this wouldn’t fly– as it was I had one child practically breathing fire– so this should be adjusted as needed. 2) the puree is made from one can of chipotles in adobe sauce– again I used my immersion blender– apparently once pureeed it can be in the fridge “indefinitely”

I deviated quite a bit here because I just wanted to use what was in my fridge and because I don’t like taking the time to fry the tortillas and roll each enchilada so I do it casserole style like my mom used to– if you’d like their version you should check their original recipe.

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 large onion chopped (the other 1/2 of my walla walla)

pinch of cumin

2 zucchini, thinly sliced and then slices halved

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1 ear of corn, kernals cut off of the cob

a couple garlic cloves, pressed

corn tortillas

monterey jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups or to your liking)

Cooking veggies

Heat oil in a large saucepan and add onion. After a few minutes add carrot, zucchini. Cook for a bit then add in corn kernels and cumin. Saute until zucchini is soft but not all the way cooked.

Put a couple tablespoons of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan and spread around. Layer with corn tortillas, tearing or cutting to cover completely. sprinkle with 2/3 of the cheese, add all the vegetables and spread around to fill casserole. Add about 3/4 cup of sauce on top of veggies and make sure it is evenly distributed. Place another layer of tortillas on the top, tearing them as needed to fully cover veggies underneath.

after veggie layer and a little sauce, another layer of tortillas

then finish the tortillas layer

Pour remaining sauce on top, being sure to coat all the tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in a 375 oven for about 20-25 minutes. Serve with sour cream, fresh tomato, chopped olives if you have them (I didn’t) and some lettuce.